A Beacon of Freedom
by Tsukiakari-Wolf
Summary: Weiss can't wait to get back to her life and friends at Beacon but will she be able to? With her parents demanding that she leave it all behind will Weiss and the team be able to convince them to let her stay?
1. Chapter 1

'I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, a member of team RWBY and, the partner of its leader Ruby Rose. I am eighteen years old. I have faced down owners of rival companies, chased down whole sounders of boarbatusks and, managed to stay somewhat firm in the face of Ruby's patented puppy dog eyes. I can do this.'

Weiss stared into the small oval mirror of the airships bathroom as if challenging her reflection to disagree with her internal pep talk. In the mirror she could see the door behind her looming. On the other side of that door sat her father, mother and, younger sister, in the passenger area of the private and needlessly lavish airship.

Family trips like this in which the entire family travelled together were rare. The last time Weiss could remember it happening she had been thirteen years old and on her way to her grandmother's funeral.

So what had prompted this airship ride and where were they headed? The answer is Weiss' return to Beacon.

Sending Weiss to a school for hunters and huntresses had been a strategic move by her father to show off the fact that his daughter was not only a well bred young girl, but also a strong woman not to be dismissed as a simple decoration; at least not until he had picked out a suitable man to make his heir by way of marriage.

The idea was for her to be seen as a perfect student for a year and then withdraw her from the school with stories of turning her exceptional talents to the growth and protection of her families company.

Neither of her parents nor even Weiss herself had imagined that she would want to continue attending Beacon. She had tasted freedom there; she had met people who didn't care that she was the heiress of some multi-million lien company. She had experienced true friendship. Perhaps most importantly she had learned to see the world from her own eyes instead of through the glasses that were her upbringing.

She did not want to give it up.

So before her parents could make the call to withdraw her from the school Weiss had made sure to call the headmaster directly to confirm her enrolment for the coming year. If Ozpin had been surprised by the call he didn't let on. Later when her parents had called him he was quick to tell them how happy he had been to have received earlier confirmation that their daughter would once again be attending Beacon. He also made sure tell them just how wonderful it was that news of such a high standing member of society continuing attendance at Beacon was causing an increase in first year applications.

Dinner at the Schnee household that night had been a rather strained affair.

Weiss had spent her summer holidays locking horns with her parents over the matter. Fortunately for the young heiress both Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood fast behind her refusing to let her parents withdraw her from the curriculum.

Now on the second last day of her holidays Weiss was getting her way. The airship they were riding was headed to Beacon. However the taste of victory was bittersweet.

Yes she was returning to Beacon, to her team, to her friends, to the place where she could for once be herself. But first she had to endure the scrutiny of her parents.

They were unable to comprehend her desire to return. Admittedly Weiss had only given her parents half truths and carefully constructed arguments about how it might reflect badly for her to pull out after only a year of schooling. As such it had been decided that the family as a whole would see her back to Beacon. To the rest of the world it would no doubt seem like a show of support from a close knit family. In reality her mother and father would be snooping around for a more acceptable reason as to why Weiss was so adamant about staying in the school. As well as sniffing out any and every hint of impropriety they could in an attempt to fabricate a reason to make her leave. Winter of course would just be tagging along for appearances sake before she was taken back home to her tutors and socialite friends.

"Ladies and gentleman we will be landing shortly, for safeties sake we ask that all passengers return to their seats and strap themselves in."

Drawing herself up to her full underwhelming height Weiss turned away from the mirror.

'It's not like I was going to be able to hide in here forever.' She abruptly shook her head. 'No. I wasn't hiding. I have no need to hide from those people. All I was doing was freshening up.'

With that thought in mind the supposed ice queen of team RWBY pushed open the door and went to her seat with her poker face set. No sooner had she clicked her harness into place did the airship make the sharp jerk that signalled the final decent into the landing dock.

"You took your time in the bathroom sweet heart, are you sure you're feeling up to this?" The question came from Weiss' mother. By all accounts the image of what Weiss would look like thirty years in the future the woman in question wore a concerned smile. To a casual observer it might have seemed genuine, but Weiss had long since identified the cold glint that never seemed to leave her mother's crystalline blue eyes.

Focusing her gaze on her mother Weiss manufactured a courteous smile feigning ignorance of the way her father's steel coloured eyes had narrowed in on her, waiting to hear how she would respond.

"Was I Mother? I got rather distracted trying to remember if I had properly organized my summer home work before I put it away. It would be annoying to have to search through it all to find the right assignment five minutes before class."

"Yes, I do suppose it would be" her mother replied her own smile hardening just barely enough to be noticeable. Weiss allowed her gaze to wander over to the window where she could see the familiar lobby of the Beacon airship docks coming into alignment.

Eyes of blue and eyes of steel tried to stab her for a few more moments before giving up, realising their daughter was not going to engage them any further.

There was another slightly less jarring jolt as the craft finally came to a halt. This was quickly followed by the hydraulic hiss of a metal ramp sliding out from its compartment and a resounding clunk as metal arms locked it into place.

Weiss was out of her chair and half way to the opening door before the pilot could finish announcing their arrival.

The deciding battle for her freedom was about to begin. Failure was not an option Weiss would tolerate.

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><p><strong>AN:  
>So here I am with my second published fan-fiction and I've set myself the challenge of having more than one chapter. Which I don't think is gonna be a problem in term of ideas. When the idea for this story first came to me I knew it'd be way to long and have too many changes of scene and perspective to be comfortably read in one huge chapter. The one problem I do think might come up is that I have too many ideas.<br>So to get a better grasp on where I'm going to take this and to give any readers a chance to have their say I'm gonna ask a couple of questions. If you wanna help me out by answering please keep in mind this is going to be pretty Weiss-centric fic. I'm happy to and probably will look in on other characters but if I'm gonna give them any real exposure they'll probably get their own fic.**

**1. I plan to write about Weiss' interactions and thoughts on her family (who might as well be OC's for all the information we have on them) as well as a bit of personal growth type stuff. Naturally her different lifestyle at Beacon and the new relationships she's forged are going to play roles in this so the first question I'm going to ask is should I make one of those relationships a romantic relationship? **

**2. If you answered yes to question 1 would you rather see some Whiterose, Monochrome, or something else?**

**3. If you want to see something else, what is that something else?**

**The reason I'm asking Whiterose or Monochrome is because as it is I can currently see 3 semi clear paths the third of course being no romance. However if enough people vote for a different ship I might be able to think up a few more ideas. Honestly I ship pretty much everyone in RWBY it's not hard to get me excited about a ship and get the ideas flowing.  
><strong>

**Any way thank you to anyone who took the time to read this chapter, I hope you've enjoyed it and that you'll continue to do so.**


	2. Chapter 2

Winter wanted to do nothing more than slip between the overstuffed cushions of her seat and disappear as she watched her older sister rush off of the airship. It was a bold move to just leave their parents behind like this so early into the game, but for all Winter knew it may have been necessary; her sister had started on the back foot. She had had no time to tell her teammates she would be arriving; this could spell all kinds of disaster when her parents were looking for even the smallest excuse to drag her home. Risky as it may be for her to rush out to give them a warning call away from the strange interference that had plagued their flight, it was probably better than just hoping everything would play out ok with her unprepared team. That didn't really make the atmosphere she left behind much better.

Winter knew about the battle being waged between her sister and their parents of course. For some undiscernible reason her sister wanted to complete her training as a huntress. Their parents had other plans most likely involving marriage.

That was the way it was supposed to go after all. Weiss being their first born child meant she was the heir to the Schnee Dust Company, a company that held the monopoly over the most precious and diversely used energy resource known to man. This might as well have made her a princess in all but name. And princesses did not go to schools for commoners wanting to be warriors. Princesses waited for their princes and then stood by their sides when those princes were made kings.

Her sister didn't seem to be making a good princess.

How her parents had expected her to be was rather beyond Winter. They had raised her sister to be an heir; someone who could stand at the head of an empire and make the tough calls, someone who would chase and scare away anyone who dared try and steal that empires power for themselves. That was why Winter had watched as her sister was shuffled from tutor to tutor forever being drilled on everything from proper dining etiquette, to accounting, and even advanced dust practices. Now it seemed they just wanted to marry her to the highest bidder and make her take on the role of an obedient trophy wife.

There was no telling what it was that had changed but there was little doubt in Winter's mind that there must have been something.

"You would think that today of all days she would put more effort into minding her manners" their mother huffed.

The older woman stood and straightened out imaginary wrinkles from her powder blue pencil skirt. Mentally Winter rolled her eyes at her mother's compulsive need to look neat and tidy. As if the woman had sensed her daughter's derision she turned her sharp gaze upon her.

"Winter stand up and so I can make sure you're outfit hasn't become dishevelled during our flight."

"Of course Mother" she replied with a respectful bob of her head as she rose to her feet.

There hadn't been much point in offering up the consent. Her mother was going to check her appearance no matter what she said. The only difference would be how Winter was treated afterwards. She could have tried to politely refuse as she had seen her sister attempt to do in the past, but a bruising pinch to her side and a day full of snippy remarks about her appearance did not seem appealing in this already unpleasant situation. Yes letting herself me be looked over for a few moments was definitely the better option.

When she had been younger keeping her proper posture under the intensity of her mother's gaze had always been hard; now Winter was certain she could withstand that same level of scrutiny for hours before she began to feel the same desire to cower away. She was also certain that having ever felt the desire cower before her mother simply because a hair may have been out of place was not something normal children experienced.

She kept her face impassive as her mother as she straightened the ruffles on her blouse and made sure there were no wrinkles in her skirt. To finish her mother ran her fingers through her high centred pony tail ensuring there were no tangles in the silver tinted locks. With a contented hum she turned to her husband waiting a short distance from the exit.

Winter let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She may have grown used to the inspections but that last check always got to her. No matter how much time she or the maids spent doing her hair she was always worried it would have a massive tangle or even worse that it would be off centre like her sisters. While she had never seen Weiss be penalised for her asymmetrical hairstyle she knew it irked their mother to no end; something that could only spell trouble.

"If you girls have finished your preening it would be best to get this over with quickly." As if to punctuate his words her father took a moment to examine his pocket watch. "If we're lucky we'll be back here to fly home by lunch."

Winter felt a pang of pity towards her elder sister. Lunch was only two and a half hours away, not much time to make a convincing argument as to why she would be allowed to stay.

"Can't we just go straight to this Ozpin's office and sort this out now rather than meeting with whatever imbeciles that girl has been put with and walking around this accursed school" her mother asked pouting slightly. "I wanted a chance to some shopping in Vale before we left."

Her father didn't offer a verbal reply instead he just let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Having completed the action he simply walked out of the airship. Another displeased huff escaped her mother but the woman made no comment instead she went ahead to join her husband Winter close on their heels.

Out in the arrival lobby Weiss was nowhere to be seen.

'This is not good.'

Winter looked around the room. There were a surprising number of other arrivals in the room all dressed in a combination of casual and combat wear but no matter how hard Winter looked she could not see her sister. It was clear by the scowls her parents wore that they couldn't see her either.

"Excuse me, you're Weiss Schnee's family right?"

Years of etiquette lessons were the only thing to keep Winter from jumping two feet in the air at the sudden voice to their right. Her parents of course showed no sign of alarm simply sending a withering look at the young man who had dared to speak to them.

Standing closer to seven foot than six Winter actually had to tilt her head to look up at his face. Over all he seemed reasonably well presented even though he was obviously wearing combat gear; his burnt orange hair was neatly combed back from his face and his broad shoulders were held back in impeccable posture. The boy was a wearing a charismatic smile but something else seemed to glitter in his indigo eyes. It wasn't all that surprising; people rarely approached members of the Schnee family unless they were trying to get something.

"My name is Cardin Winchester; I shared a number of classes with Weiss last year" he said as he held out a hand to Mr Schnee. The older man shook his hand briskly but still didn't speak.

Judging by the way Cardin flexed his hand afterwards he must have severely underestimated her father's grip. There was just the slightest flicker of hesitation in his eyes before he began talking again.

"She was always quite impressive in both our text based and our combat based classes, surprising really considering the team she's been put with, but I guess it makes sense given your families reputation."

There was no way her parents were going to miss an opportunity like that even if it was offered up in such an obvious fashion. It seemed like this Cardin boy knew something that they could use.

"What was it about her team that made her excellence so surprising Mr Winchester" her mother asked with a sugary sweet smile. Cardin actually seemed to puff up with smugness as he realised he had their attention.

"Well the blonde one Yang has something of a reputation for her anger issues, and that black haired one Blake is one shady little kitty cat, and of course there's their leader Ruby who is just an inexperienced child, no one is actually sure how someone as immature as her managed to get into Beacon 2 years early."

He paused for just a moment to gauge their reactions. Her parents of course didn't let any emotion be broadcast rather they wore expressions that might be read as their having a polite interest in the conversation. It was quite impressive that they weren't grinning like the cats that got the cream. In a few short moments Cardin had given them information that could potentially end her sister's crusade before it had even truly begun.

"Cardin?!" This time Winter couldn't keep herself from jumping just a little at the sound of her sister's sharp exclamation. Somehow Weiss had managed to materialise right next to her without anyone noticing.

"Hello Weiss, I was just talking to your parents about your teammates."

"Is that so" Weiss asked. She was wearing the same pleasantly polite smile Winter had seen at countless dinner parties.

'Why does she seem so relaxed?'

"Well that is nice of you to entertain them while I informed the team of my arrival" Weiss continued to speak with the same pleasant smile. "Though I must say I didn't expect to see you here after that trouble you and your team got into with the authorities last year."

'He was in trouble with the authorities? Well now I know why she isn't worried.'

Cardin's expression hardened. He took a step closer to Weiss his charismatic smile had become more of a sneer.

"If I recall my team wasn't the only one involved with the authorities" he said through gritted teeth.

Winter looked between her sister and the much taller hunter-in-training with wide eyes. Her sister was still wearing a smile but it was different now; colder. Had he really just accused her of getting in trouble with the authorities? It shouldn't have been possible. If something like that had occurred then no doubt word would have reached the press and been spread all across Remnant. Cardin however looked quite confident in his accusation as he continued to stare her sister down.

As she waited for her sister's reply Winter looked between the two once again, a bright yellow mass caught her eye standing behind Cardin.

It was a girl; a tall girl, though still a good foot shorter than Cardin with wild looking blonde hair. Playful lilac eyes met with Winter's own bright blue and winked. The new girl brought a finger to her lips gesturing for Winter not to announce her and held up the face plate of a Grimm.

Winter went to speak confused as to what the stranger was doing but felt a sharp jab in her side. She looked just in time to see her sister's elbow withdrawing.

"There is quite the difference between my team assisting the local law enforcement and your team getting arrested by it Cardin" Weiss said sweetly.

Winter glanced to her parents. She could see two things quite clearly. The first being they did seem to be wavering in the face of Cardin's criminal record and Weiss' clear confidence. Secondly they had yet to notice the blonde, who by now Winter dimly realised had pulled the Grimm face plate on like a mask.

"Look here _Princess_ you and your little friends messed up plenty for me last year, don't think that hiding behind your daddy is gonna help you out" Cardin spat as he took another menacing step towards Weiss.

'Well his personality has certainly taken a turn in a very short time.'

"Oh look an Ursa." In all her life Winter had never heard her sister's voice sound quite so monotone. The smile had dropped from her face and she actually looked rather annoyed.

"Was that supposed to be some kind of joke? There's no way an Ursa could even get within a hundred yards of this lobby."

The largely unnoticed blonde took that moment to clear her throat.

With something of a snarl Cardin whirled around to face her.

As he did she flung up her arms like an enraged Ursa and let out an angry roar that caused several of the people nearby to turn in shock, all hands instinctually went to their weapons. Even Winter's parents took a step back away from the perceived danger.

As everyone realised it was just a girl in a mask they all relaxed, all of them watching with some degree of curiosity including her parents to see what would happen.

The blonde held the pose for a moment. Really it looked quite effective her hair was floating around her flickering as if it was on fire and she had somehow managed to make the eyes of the face plate glow red like a living Grimm. Cardin just stared for a moment his mouth agape and his eyes bugged out. Three long seconds passed with the two of them just staring at each frozen and then, Cardin fainted.

Laughter erupted from the onlooking students. Winter looked to her parents unsure of how to react but they seemed too stunned to notice her.

"As my taciturn partner would say, _its heiress actually,_ only her friends get to call her Princess" the blonde said in a cheery tone of voice. She pulled the face plate off and dropped it on stomach of the semi conscious young man. "Now there _Princess,_ what the hell was with that delivery you sounded more like Blake than Blake does, it was totally unrealistic."

"First of all, no one is allowed to call me Princess" Weiss said crossing her arms defensively. "And secondly, we're in a lobby full of future hunters and huntresses as if all of them would have miraculously missed an Ursa walking all the way over here from the entrance, even if it somehow made it as far as the lobby in the first place; it was never going to be realistic." She let out a huff and turned up her nose to the blonde.

"Hey it worked didn't it so don't be like that" the blonde said as she flung an arm around Weiss' shoulders. "Now let's get you and your family out of this lobby and meet up with everyone at the courtyard. Team JNPR are there and so will Blake and Ruby by now. They got caught up doing errands for Port."

Weiss scowled up at the blonde and tried in a seemingly pointless effort to shrug off the taller girls arm. With the difference in size, and the warm friendly aura the blonde projected it almost looked as if Weiss was a pouty child suffering the embarrassing affections of an older sibling.

"Come on now everyone has missed you, especially Ruby."

The scowl disappeared for just a moment and Winter could have sworn she saw a genuine smile grace her sister's lips before it returned.

"Get off of me you great brute so we can get going. And didn't I manage to drill any kind of manners into your thick skull last year, introduce yourself."

The blonde laughed and released Weiss. As she scratched the back of her neck in a bashful manner she showed no sign of being even the least bit phased by the insults that had just been hurled at her.

"I'm sorry Weiss is right I should have introduced myself earlier." The bright stranger took a step back and turned slightly to face both Winter and her parents. "The name's Yang Xiao Long, heavy hitter and resident beauty of team RWBY. It's a pleasure to finally meet the three of you."

"Yes a pleasure." Winter honestly didn't know if she'd ever heard her mother's voice waver the way it did when she replied to the smiling young brawler.

"You're a teammate of Weiss'" Mr Schnee asked his stern persona back in place. It had no visible effect on the blonde as she bobbed her head with an affirmative hum.

"Well we had best get going, wouldn't want to keep our partners and team JNPR waiting too long" Weiss said as she clapped her hands together.

Winter looked at her sister her mind still spinning with everything she had witnessed since stepping off of the airship.

Somehow Weiss looked as perfectly collected as she would a dinner party or a press conference.

Winter couldn't comprehend it. In the space of ten minutes their parents had already seen more than enough to head straight to Ozpin's office and demand she be removed from this school and allowed to come home.

If Weiss was aware of this she didn't show any sign of it. She just turned and began walking towards the exit with all of the grace and confidence that one would expect of the Schnee heiress.

Yang gave a playful half bow, and a gesture that said _after you_ to Winter and her parents which was purposefully ignored by two adults as they went after their eldest daughter their demeanour indicating definite displeasure at the whole situation. After a half a moment's hesitation Winter followed them, not entirely sure what to do as the rambunctious fell into step with her.

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><p><strong>AN:**

**Ok so this took a little longer than originally planned. Mostly due to social obligations and that pesky need to sleep. **

**Just so everyone knows the White Rose votes won so hopefully I'll be able to make more apparent in the next chapter because this one barely grazed it.**

**However in the time before the votes started coming in I managed to get a few ideas of a Monochrome one-shot that may also have the potential for a story. Depending on how it develops I'll either release a one-shot at the same time I release the next chapter of A Beacon of Freedom or I'll start releasing chapters after I finish this project. I'm trying not to bite off more than I can chew. **

**Sorry for any grammatical errors or inconsistencies regarding the point of view or whatever else I may have goofed; the past few days have limited my writing to the time between when I return from work and when I go to bed which means most of this was written at about 1-2am. Also sorry if Cardin seemed a little half baked but after a random day dream of Yang popping with an ursa mask and scaring the crap out of him the idea buried itself into my brain so deeply that I completely forgot how I planned to write the chapter without it.**

**Thanks again to everyone that took the time to read this.**


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